* The All-Stars of Ceramic Decorating Company *
Craig Johnston
Owner / CEO
Sara Cruz
General Manager
Lisa Martines
VP Sales & Marketing
Sergio Galicia
Art & Design Manager
Mario Serna
Production Manager
Andres Ruelas
Ink Master
Our team at Ceramic Decorating Company is made up of some of the most amazing people on the planet. They eat, sleep and breathe Ceramic Decorating Company Core Values. They give 100% every single day and provide 'top notch' service to make sure our customers are WOW'd with every order! As a family run business, our team members mean everything to us. From the most recent new hire to our long-standing seasoned veterans of more than 35 years, each person is a vital member of our growing family. If there is one thing that binds us all together and makes us function as a well-oiled machine, it is our belief that our team is made up of members that complement one another perfectly. This knowledge helps us to utilize our strengths and rely on the experience of our team members to showcase our varied talents. This is what being a family and part of a team is all about.
Ceramic Decorating Company Core Values
- Deliver WOW through Quality and Service
- Embrace and Drive Change
- Create Fun and Just a Bit of Wackiness
- Pursue Adventure, Growth and Learning
- Communicate Well Together
- Build and Support Team Relationships
- Be Healthy and Positive
- Be Passionate and Determined
- Keep It Clean and Simple
- Do More With Less
Many of these Core Values were inspired, motivated, and even outright plagiarized from Zappos.com and Tony Hsieh’s book Delivering Happiness. Tony gets harmonious company culture and totally inspires us in our journey. Thank you, Tony!
An American Tale
Triumphantly making it through a part of America’s tumultuous economic history, two brothers emerged victorious to leave behind a legacy. Ceramic Decorating Company is a living monument to the American spirit, and it embodies the tenacity, ingenuity, and integrity that gave rise to its birth and lent it its staying power.
To understand why this story is so remarkable, let us set the scene behind the creation of what would go on to become the Ceramic Decorating Company:
Who: The Johnson Brothers, successful contractors and owners of Johnson Brothers Contractors.
What: The stock market crash.
When: 1930.
Where: Ohio.
Why: The Johnson Brothers Contractors lost everything.
The promise of a new future beckoned from the sunny San Fernando Valley, located in Southern California. However, in spite of the Johnson brothers’ heroic efforts to help save their new employer the Empire China Company, this company sunk deeply into debt.
Wilbur and Lyman’s efforts were not entirely in vain, however. While working at the Empire China Company, the Johnson brothers learned the trade of applying and firing decals. Why not utilize these skills to develop their own business? The two brothers pooled their experience in decoration, to build their own tunnel kiln and factory.
In January 1934, they created and opened Ceramic Decorating Company.
Originally Wilbur and Lyman had thought to decal on ceramic dinnerware, but it quickly became apparent that the demand for screen-printed bottles was far greater. Since they were always flexible, they followed the market. However, as in all new industries, the procedure for how to help their customers had to be created from the ground up, as there was no one to emulate. In fact, the brothers only had one competitor!
One man who dabbled in silk screening from his home graciously allowed the brothers a sneak peek into his operations, but beyond that, Wilbur and Lyman were on their own. Falling back on their contracting skills, they designed and built their own manually operated decorating machines. Working twenty-four hours a day, the two brothers took turns filling shifts that lasted, at minimum, twelve hours. Lyman took the days and younger brother Wilbur took the nights. It wasn’t long before they were printing designs on soda bottles, wine bottles, health and beauty containers, and specialty food jars, and serving a myriad of other industries with premium screen-printed decoration.
From the beginning, the brothers set an example to their employees that no job was too menial for the owners to do themselves. This practice of hands-on ownership continued as Lyman ran the office and Wilbur often ran the forklift well after they could have afforded to delegate the more rudimentary jobs to others. This was not a dictatorship, this was a team, well before the concept of teams in the workplace became popularized.
In 1937, Ceramic Decorating Company relocated from Huntington Park to its current residence on Sheila St. in the City of Commerce, Los Angeles. The City of Commerce, now a thriving industrial community and an integral part of California’s economy, was virtually undeveloped when they set up shop in the middle of an alfalfa field. One of the first buildings on the street, Ceramic Decorating Company is a living tribute to California’s manufacturing inception.
Ceramic Decorating Company has always been most uniquely defined by its character. Both Wilbur and Lyman had a strong Christian faith and believed in doing business by “the book”, and yes this means the Bible. Customers and vendors alike have never questioned the integrity of Ceramic Decorating Company or its proprietors. Ethics always took precedence over the bottom line. They kept their word. They did what they said they would do. As a result of their untarnished reputation, the company was able to depend on word-of-mouth recommendations and return customers, without any marketing efforts. They grew and thrived as a very reputable company.
During the past 90 years, the company has served a wide array of customers including well-known names such as:
- Hansen’s Juice
- Max Factor
- Revlon
- Clinique
- Este Lauder
- Beringer
- Korbel
- Brown Forman
- Pepsi-Cola
- Coca-Cola
- 7-Up
- Avon
- Grey Poupon
- POM Wonderful
- Coors
- Miller Brewing
- Budweiser
- Stone Brewing
- Bossa Nova
- and Monavie among many, many more.
Ceramic was and still is a family-operated business. By the time Lyman’s son Ralph and Wilbur’s sons Burnell and Allan were 18 and graduated from high school, they were experts in screen printing glass containers and ready to begin full-time positions in the family-owned and operated business. In 1969 the second generation, Ralph, Burnell and W. Allan, purchased Ceramic Decorating Company from their fathers. With the passing of the torch, the next generation of Johnson boys proudly carried on the tradition of WOW’ing their customers through quality and service, teamwork, expertise in decorating, and the exemplary integrity that the company carries throughout its history.
Fun Fact:
Even after he was “bought out” Lyman continued to come to work every day until he was eighty-three years old!
In July of 2002, it again came time to pass the baton, this time to the third generation. While maintaining ownership, the three partners hired Burnell’s son, Chad Johnson, to take over as CEO of the company. For the next nine years, with the aid of longtime loyal team members, Chad poured his passion and energy into building a team of committed difference makers — employees that truly care and give everything they have to make Ceramic Decorating Company a growing and thriving business.
In October 2010, Ralph Johnson passed away at 89 years old and in August of 2011, Jean Johnson — Ralph’s beloved widow — came to Chad Johnson and offered to sell Ralph’s shares of the business to Chad, fulfilling his life-long dream.
Today Ceramic Decorating Company is full of life, vision, growth, and opportunity. We are celebrating almost 90 years soon, and by God’s grace, we plan to be around for another 90 years. Never before has change been more evident in every aspect of the business: maximizing the specialized and unique abilities of our incredible team, finding new and creative ways to delight our customers, and living out our Core Values in every way. The future is bright!
